Photo By Michael Krieg | Spc. Richard Codd completes push-ups during the Army physical fitness test at Camp...... read more read more
By Spc. Elizabeth Gorenc
Camp Atterbury Public Affairs
CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind., - After winning the regional level Soldier of the Year "Warrior Challenge" 2008 competition, Spc. Richard Codd, from the Security Small-arms Readiness Group at Camp Atterbury, is scheduled to represent Indiana at the national competition at Fort Benning, Ga., in August.
"Actually, I didn't think I would make it this far. I've gone into things not knowing that I was going to win. I just kind of always expected the worst, but hoped for the best," said Codd.
Whether he wins the national competition or not, Codd still has the backing of his leadership and even random strangers.
"A lot more people know me around base and I can tell I have a lot of support," said Codd. "People have actually come up to me to tell me stories they saw about me online. It's pretty crazy to have other people look stuff up about me because I don't even do that."
Codd's boss, Command Sgt. Maj. Shannon Brown, the sergeant major for directorate of plans, training, and mobilization at Camp Atterbury, said he has complete faith in the Soldier.
"Spc. Codd is a mentally and physically strong and motivated Soldier who I felt would represent Camp Atterbury and Indiana to the fullest in the Soldier of the year competition," said Brown. "He understands military baring and discipline and always has a smile on his face no matter how much pain he is in."
Codd said that discipline and endless preparation is what led him all the way up to the final competition. He said he ran approximately five miles every other day and went to the gym every day to do what he said seemed like non-stop cardio and combatives training. He also studied "everything in the U.S. military" for about two hours every night.
"I don't really get a day off of training," said Codd. "But I feel more prepared for this competition than I have for the other ones because I have an idea about what to expect. For this one, I have just kept building on what I already had from the other competitions."
To win the state competition, Codd studied for hours. At the regionals, he led the competition by 100 points before going into the boards. And since then, he has been setting himself up for success for the national competition.
Codd will have to use everything he learned and gained from training as he competes against the six other regional competitors at Fort Benning next month for the title of Soldier of the Year, 2008.
To earn that title, Soldiers undergo an Army physical fitness test, complete weapons qualification, night and day land navigation courses, combatives to include boxing, pugils stick bouts, and grappling, and Soldier tasks and drills. The Soldiers also must successfully complete combat water survival, combat live saver, an obstacle course and a 12-mile road march in "full battle rattle" before being verbally tested in front of a board of evaluators.
"It's Fort Benning so I am expecting that they will throw in a couple of surprises," said Codd, anticipating what the nationals will hold in store for him.
Despite the possible surprises and intensified level of difficulty, a smiling Codd said he was confident about going into the national level of the competition because of his success with the previous competitions.
"I think the hardest part of the competition will be the 12-mile road march," said Codd. "It's toward the end of the competition and everyone is already extremely exhausted."
Codd said the march couldn't be too much harder than the Bataan Memorial Death March, a 26.2-mile road march he endured in 2008.
"The first 18 miles were cool and this road march is only 12, so it should be okay," said Codd, whose team placed second in the Death March.
Following the competitions in Georgia, Soldiers are scheduled to travel to Washington D.C. for the announcement of the winners.
Keeping true to his busy and motivated Army lifestyle, Codd, who was recently Air Assault-qualified, plans on completing Airborne, Rigger, Sniper and Ranger schools upon returning from Washington D.C. Codd also plans to compete in the Bataan Memorial Death March again in 2009.
He does not, however, plan to compete in next year's Soldier of the Year competition. Codd said he that plans on sponsoring another Soldier to help them gain the same experiences he was fortunate enough to achieve.
| Date Taken: | 07.11.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 07.18.2008 14:05 |
| Story ID: | 21623 |
| Location: | CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, US |
| Web Views: | 149 |
| Downloads: | 56 |
This work, Soldier Represents State in National Competition, by SFC Elizabeth Houx, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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